Once upon a time there lived a widow who had two daughters: the eldest was so similar to her in character and face that anyone who saw her seemed to see her mother in front of him. Both mother and daughter were both so disgusting and so arrogant that it was impossible to get along with them. The youngest, who in her meekness and good manners was entirely like her father, was also one of the most beautiful girls I had ever seen. And since everyone, of course, loves someone like themselves, the mother was crazy about her eldest daughter, and felt a terrible hostility towards the youngest. She allowed her to eat only in the kitchen and forced her to work incessantly. This poor girl, among her other duties, had to go twice a day to a spring, half a mile from the house, and fetch a large jug of water. One day, when she was standing at a spring, a beggar approached her and asked her to give her a drink. Here, grandma, please,” the beautiful girl told her and, immediately rinsing the jug and scooping up the freshest water, she handed it to her, supporting it all the time so that it would be more convenient for the beggar to drink. The woman got drunk and said: You are so beautiful, so kind and courteous that I can’t help but reward you with a magical gift. (For she was a sorceress who took the form of a poor peasant woman in order to test the girl’s good character.) This gift, the sorceress continued, will consist in the fact that with every word that you happen to say, either a flower or a precious stone will fall from your lips. When the beauty came home, her mother scolded her for not returning for so long. “Forgive me, mother, that I was so slow,” answered the poor thing, and when she said these words, two roses, two pearls and two large diamonds fell from her lips. What is this? - said the surprised mother. “It’s as if pearls and diamonds are pouring out of her mouth.” How is this so, my daughter? (She told her for the first time, my daughter.) The poor girl innocently told her everything that had happened to her, without failing to sprinkle in countless diamonds. Really,” said the mother, “I’ll have to send my other daughter there too.” Here, Fanchon, look what falls out of your sister's mouth when she speaks. Wouldn't it be nice for you to have such a gift? All you have to do is go to the well for water, and when a beggar asks you for a drink, give her a drink with all courtesy.
I will go to the spring for water! – the rude daughter answered arrogantly.
“I want you to go there, and immediately,” the mother answered.
The daughter walked away, still grumbling. She took with her the most beautiful silver vessel that was in the house. Before she could reach the spring, a magnificently dressed lady came out of the forest, approached her and asked her to drink. It was the same sorceress who had appeared to her sister, but this time she dressed as a princess in order to experience the extent to which this person's wickedness extended.
“Isn’t that why I came here,” said the arrogant and ill-mannered girl, “to serve you water?” And did she carry a silver jug to give your ladyship something to drink? Well, drink if you want.
“You are not at all polite,” the sorceress objected, not at all angry. - If you are so unkind, I will give you such a gift that with every word you say, either a toad or a snake will fall from your mouth.
The mother, as soon as she saw her, shouted: So what, daughter?
So that's it, mother! - answered the rude daughter, and two vipers and two toads jumped out of her mouth.
Oh my God! - exclaimed the mother. - What is this? It's all her sister's fault; she will pay me for it.
And she immediately rushed to the one to beat her. The poor thing ran away and hid in the nearby forest. The king's son, returning from a hunt, met her and, seeing how beautiful she was, asked what she was doing here all alone and why she was crying.
Ah, sir! My mother kicked me out of the house.
The king's son, seeing that five or six pearls and the same number of diamonds had fallen from her mouth, asked her to explain what was the matter. She told him her story. The king's son fell in love with her and, judging that such a gift was worth more than any dowry, took her to his father's palace and married her there.
And her sister was so hated by everyone that even her mother drove her away, and the unfortunate woman, whom no one wanted to shelter no matter how much she wandered, died somewhere in the forest.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru